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African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics >
Volume 04, Number 1, March 2010 >
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://purl.umn.edu/93887
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| Title: | The rural non-farm economy, livelihood strategies and household welfare |
| Authors: | Stifel, David |
| Keywords: | non-farm
livelihood strategy
diversification
labor
welfare
Madagascar |
| Issue Date: | 2010-03 |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the relationship between rural non-farm employment and household
welfare using nationally representative data from Madagascar. It focuses on labor outcomes
in the context of household livelihood strategies that include farm and non-farm income
earning opportunities. It identifies distinct household livelihood strategies that can be ordered
in welfare terms, and estimates multinomial logit models to assess the extent of the barriers
to choosing dominant strategies. It finds that high-return non-farm activities provide an
important pathway out of poverty, but that barriers such as lack of (a) education, (b) formal
credit and (c) access to telecommunications restrict participation in such activities. Individual
employment choice models and estimates of earnings functions provide supporting evidence
of these barriers. Although the poverty reduction effects may be limited, low-return non-farm
activities also play an important role as safety nets by providing opportunities for ex ante risk
reduction and ex post coping with shocks. |
| URI: | http://purl.umn.edu/93887 |
| Institution/Association: | African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics>Volume 04, Number 1, March 2010 |
| Total Pages: | 28 |
| From Page: | 82 |
| To Page: | 109 |
| Collections: | Volume 04, Number 1, March 2010
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| The rural non-farm economy livelihood.pdf | | 150Kb | PDF | View/Open |
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